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Thread: Continental A-65 Maintenance

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    107

    Continental A-65 Maintenance

    Purchased an Aeronca Chief recently and am now setting up a long term maintenance program for it. Would be interested in forum users practice with this A/C and especially for the A-65 engine. It has about 200 hrs. SMOH when 4 new Millenium cylinders were installed. Service intervals, check points and product recommendations are all solicited. I anticipate 250 hrs./yr. flight time with mostly XC vs. training or local usage. Thanks

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    San Jose, California
    Posts
    15
    Greetings,

    Funny you brought this up now. I was in my powerplant class (A&P school) last week and a classmate and I were talking about doing an overhaul on an A-65 we have in the shop. I was looking up manuals, video and the like...

    Here are links to YouTube videos on the A65 overhaul from 1945 (about an hour each)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?
    v=RBLy-CcB1FQ (part 1)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?
    v=GVkvE-LZJko (part 2)

    I don't have any information on a regular maintenance program but if you are interested I have a 1944 operation/maintenance/overhaul/parts list manual in PDF format and the 2011 revision from Continental as well.

    Blue skies and tailwinds,
    ~FlyBoyJon

    Jonathan Wanzer
    Pilot, Mechanic, Instructor, Student
    Email | Website | Facebook | Google+ | Twitter | Tumblr | LinkedIn

  3. #3
    I don't have any experience with the Chief, but I fly a Cub with both the A-65 and C-85 (O-200 STC).

    To start off with, the A-65 with the Milleniums is rock solid. Inside the engine there are a couple of
    potential trouble areas. Many A-65's develop sluggish oil pressure. First it is slow to come up and
    sometimes/eventually it doesn't come up in 30 seconds. If you Google this you will find a wealth of
    knowledge and be able to troubleshoot it. BUT don't ignore this warning sign. A-65 cranks are becoming
    a scarce commodity. Those which are available are usually the 0.020 undersize ones and when these go
    they have to be scrapped as the factory only authorizes 0.010 under and the STCed ones can only go 0.20
    under.

    The message here is don't ignore the oil pressure warnings and change the oil every 20 - 25 hours (if
    it has the screen)

    Most of us do not lean the A-65 as much as we did the O-200/O-235 in the Cessnas. This will cause
    lead buildup on the piston tops and plugs. The Stromberg I had was not leanable. The Marvel is...

    Another thing, in my experience: The word overhaul has a specific FAA definition that is universally accepted
    EXCEPT for A-65 through C-90 engines installed in Piper Cubs... It seems that if the case was split and
    the parts looked OK, and a new set of bearings were installed, some people will claim that the engine
    was overhauled.

    Pete
    Last edited by weiskopf20@gmail.com; 09-24-2012 at 08:44 AM.

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